What maps show us

By John Nelson

Maps paint in small portraits of a phenomena so that when we step back, we see an impossible global portrait. Maps can change how we think of our world, ourselves, and the uniquely geographic relationship we all share. This short presentation covers biplanes, glacial melting, hammers, migrating storks, German counts, 20th century geniuses, fresh perspectives, and the magic of seeing the world in a way that only maps can provide.

Learn more about the Spilhaus coordinate system and make your own Spilhaus maps.
Listen to a fascinating Radiolab episode about the surprising history of understanding migration.
Dig deeper into the work of Dr. Kieran Baxter.

This presentation was initially created for a plenary session at the Esri Germany/Switzerland user conference in the Spring of 2020, but was unable to be delivered in person. It was also used, in part, for an “Oceans Week” presentation, with oceanographer Keith VanGraafeiland, hosted by The Explorers Club.

Love, John

John Nelson

I have far too much fun looking for ways to understand and present data visually, hopefully driving product strategy and engaging users. I work in the ArcGIS Living Atlas team at Esri, pushing and pulling data in all sorts of absurd ways and then sharing the process. I also design user experiences for maps and apps. When I'm not doing those things, I'm chasing around toddlers and wrangling chickens, and generally getting into other ad-hoc adventures. Life is good. You might also like these Styles for ArcGIS Pro: esriurl.com/nelsonstyles

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